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- “The majority of millennials said they consider owning a home more sensible than renting for both financial and lifestyle reasons — including control of living space, flexibility in future decisions, privacy and security, and living in a nice home.”

- The top reason millennials choose to buy is to have control over their living space, at 93%.

- Many millennials who rent a home or apartment prior to buying their own homes dream of the day when they will be able to paint the walls whatever color they’d like, or renovate an outdated part of their living space.

Contact your local expert’s at The Melissa Thompson Team 901-729-9526 or Melissa@YourKeyTomemphis.com for all your Real Estate needs!

Contrary to what many believe, Millennials are not the ‘renter’ generation. Millennials purchased a larger percentage (34%) of homes in the U.S. than any other age group in 2017 and the most recent Census Bureau report shows that the homeownership rate among Millennials is finally on the rise.

Many Millennials took advantage of post housing crash prices and the First-Time Homebuyers’ Tax Creditand jumped into homeownership in 2010. If you are one of these buyers, now may be the time to sell for many reasons. Here are a few:

1. Equity Build-Up

Home prices have been on the rise since the beginning of 2012 and your house may have appreciated by more than you think. ATTOM Data Solutions, in their Q2 2017 U.S. Home Sales Report revealed that:

“…homeowners who sold in the second quarter realized an average price gain of $51,000 since purchase — the highest average price gain for home sellers since Q2 2007, when it was $57,000.

The average home seller price gain of $51,000 in Q2 2017 represented an average return of 26 percent on the previous purchase price of the home, the highest average home seller return since Q3 2007, when it was 27 percent.”

2. Projected Home Price Increases

If you just got married or just found out you are about to become a parent, you may have plans to move up a bigger home or perhaps move to a different area. Waiting to buy a more expensive home in this market probably doesn’t make sense. The experts contacted for the Home Price Expectation Survey are projecting home prices to increase by nearly 5% over the next year. Yes, your house’s price will increase but not as much as a home currently valued higher than yours.

3. Projected Interest Rate Increases

The Mortgage Bankers’ Association, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the National Association of Realtors are each projecting mortgage rates to increase over the next year.

Higher PRICES + Higher INTEREST RATES = LARGER MORTGAGE PAYMENTS.

Bottom Line

If you are lucky enough to be one of those Millennials who purchased a house in 2010 (or even later), now might be the perfect time to move up to the home of your dreams!

Some Highlights:

“The majority of millennials said they consider owning a home more sensible than renting for both financial and lifestyle reasons — including control of living space, flexibility in future decisions, privacy and security, and living in a nice home.”

At 93%, the top reason Millennials choose to buy is to have control over their living space.

Many Millennials who rent a home or apartment prior to buying their own homes dream of the day that they will be able to paint the walls whatever color they'd like, or renovate an outdated part of their living space.

Millennials (or Generation Y) have recently emerged as a preeminent force in the housing market. Per the National Association of Realtors’ 2016 study of generational housing trends, millennials (those born between 1980-2000) make up the largest portion of the buyer market at 35%. This is more than Generation X (26%) which is comprised of people born between 1965-1979.

That being said, when selling your home, it would be wise to think about the wants and needs of millennials as potential buyers. Here are 11 must-haves for selling a home to millennials:

Updated kitchens and baths – Young homebuyers seek out updated kitchens and baths because they are on a budget. Most of their money will go toward down payments and furnishings, and kitchens and baths are the most expensive spaces to update, so millennials will want a home that requires little to no work in these rooms. As a seller, you want to find ways to update your bathrooms and kitchen as inexpensively as possible. While these updated rooms will attract younger buyers, you want to avoid losing the money that you put into them.

Big kitchen, open floor plan – There was a time when a formal dining room was on every buyer’s wish list. But this generation of buyers would rather eat and hang out in the kitchen, along with the family room. And because of how younger homeowners entertain, they prefer an open floor plan for easier flow throughout the house.

Home office – per recent US Census data, over 13 million Americans are working from home and it is a trend that is expected to continue. Even if a room is currently staged as a bedroom, a real estate agent can point it out as a potential office space. And it’s not just for those who work full-time from home. With ever growing technology making us increasingly mobile, a home office is a dedicated space for making phone calls, skyping or face-timing clients or even just paying bills.

Good location - Millennial buyers, faced with high gas prices and traffic, seek out locations with easy access to public transportation and a good walk score.

Low maintenance – young buyers want low maintenance homes. Things like wood floors and granite countertops appeal to them because they are both attractive and easy to take care of. They also like smaller yards. They want to spend their weekends doing activities that don’t include mowing the lawn or doing housework.

Technology – internet and cell phone service matter a lot to this generation. Many millennials don’t even use a landline. You may not be able to control the strength of cell service at your home, but you can be sure that young buyers will be asking about it.

Energy efficiency – With a growing interest in protecting the environment, younger buyers look to buy homes that are green. While energy efficiency is not the top reason to purchase a house, it can certainly be an advantage when dealing with millennial buyers.

The reality TV effect – Real estate reality shows on channels such as TLC and HGTV have had an impact on how buyers view homes. Staging has become a crucial part of the selling process. It is not unusual to hear a younger buyer speak about a room being staged or not staged.

Low HOA costs – when considering a property, younger buyers sometimes find that while the price is within their budget, homeowners association fees or condo fees make it unaffordable. They seek homes in neighborhoods with low, or preferably, NO monthly assessments.

Online photos – Technology strikes again! If you are serious about attracting young buyers, you need to consider how your home shows online. Millennials start their home searches online and if the photos don’t look good, they will likely scroll on by without ever stepping foot in the house.

Myth #1: “I Need a 20% Down Payment”

Fannie Mae’s survey revealed that consumers overestimate the down payment funds needed to qualify for a home loan. According to the report, 76% of Americans either don’t know (40%) or are misinformed (36%) about the minimum down payment required.

Many believe that they need at least 20% down to buy their dream home. New programs actually let buyers put down as little as 3%.

Below are the results of a Digital Risk survey of Millennials who recently purchased a home.

As you can see, 64.2% were able to purchase their home by putting down less than 20%, with 43.8% putting down less than 10%!

Myth #2: “I need a 780 FICO Score or Higher to Buy”

The survey revealed that 59% of Americans either don’t know (54%) or are misinformed (5%) about what FICO score is necessary to qualify.

Many Americans believe a ‘good’ credit score is 780 or higher.

To help debunk this myth, let’s take a look at the latest Ellie Mae Origination Insight Report, which focuses on recently closed (approved) loans. As you can see below, 54.1% of approved mortgages had a credit score of 600-749.

Bottom Line

Whether buying your first home or moving up to your dream home, knowing your options will definitely make the mortgage process easier. Your dream home may already be within your reach.

During the recession, many young adults graduating from college were forced to move back in with their parents. This caused new household formations to drop dramatically from the long term average of 1.2 million formations annually to half that number. However, this may be the year this turns back around.

According to the Urban Land Institute’s report, Emerging Trends in Real Estate, household formations will increase dramatically. They project that 3.68 million additional households will be formed in the next three years. This brings household formations back to pre-recession numbers of 1.2 million a year.

What will happen in 2016?

One of the key indicators to an improving housing market is household formation: How many people are moving out and forming an independent living unit? Many of the people “moving out on their own” will be those Millennials who can finally move from their parents’ basements to their first home.

Not every person moving out will decide on an apartment. A certain percentage of consumers will decide that homeownership is a better option for themselves and their families.

“Demand for for-sale housing will grow and will continue to be dominated by older millennials, aged 25 to 34. This demographic has the potential to claim a third of home sales in 2016 and represent 2 million home purchases.”

What about household
formations moving forward?

And Louis Keely, the President of The Demand Institute,predicts strong household growth will continue over the next ten years:

“We expect new household formation to be robust over the next decade as the large millennial generation ages and forms new households of their own.”

Bottom Line

Here come the Millennials!! They will finally be entering the housing market in 2016 and will dominate real estate sales over the next decade.

In a recent article by the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, it was revealed that some Millennials are not looking to purchase a home simply because they don’t believe they can qualify for a mortgage.

The article quoted Jessica Lautz, the National Association of Realtors’ Managing Director of Survey Research, as saying that there is a significant population that does not think they will be approved for a mortgage and doesn’t even try. The article also quoted Fannie MaeCEO Tim Mayopoulos :

“I do think that there’s a sense out there in the marketplace among borrowers that credit may not be available, especially for people with lower credit scores.”

So what credit score is necessary?

A recent survey reported that two-thirds of the respondents believe they need a very good credit score to buy a home, with 45 percent thinking a “good credit score” is over 780.

In actually, the FICO score on closed loans (as reported by Ellie Mae) is much lower and has been dropping over the last several months.

Bottom Line

Millennials who are considering a home purchase should get advice from a local real estate or mortgage professional now. They may be surprised how much the requirements for a mortgage have eased.

Digital Risk recently polled Millennials about the housing market. Among their findings was the fact that nearly two-thirds of the generation who have recently purchased a home, have done so with less than 20% down; with 36% putting down less than 5%!

Here is a graph detailing the results:

This means that more and more American’s between the ages of 18 and 34 stopped paying their landlord’s mortgage and started building their own family’s wealth.

Millennials aren’t the only ones taking advantage of lower down payments.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New Yorkfound that if the down payment required to purchase a home went from 20% to 5%, a renter’s Willingness To Pay (WTP) increased by 40%.

The problem is that thirty-six percent of Americans still think a 20% down payment is always required when buying a home. Many renters may actually be able to enter the housing market sooner than they ever imagined with new programs that have emerged allowing less cash out of pocket.

Bottom Line

If you are one of the many renters now realizing that the home of your dreams is obtainable now, contact a local real estate professional who can guide you through the process.